More Offers of Assistance

Belgian PM doubles Afghan civilian aid

KABUL (AFP) — Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy vowed Monday to double civilian aid to Afghanistan and welcomed plans to increase non-military assistance to the war-torn country during a visit to Kabul.

Making a previously unannounced visit, Van Rompuy held talks with President Hamid Karzai and was expected to meet some of the 600 Belgian troops deployed as part of a NATO-led multinational force fighting the Taliban.

"Belgium is in favour of the civilian surge planned and drafted by the Afghan government," the prime minister told a news conference with Karzai.

"That is why we have decided to double our civilian aid to Afghanistan. In 2009 and 2010, Belgium's budget for Afghanistan will reach 12 million euros (17 million dollars) per year," he said.

US President Barack Obama has announced that he will send at least 600 civilian experts, including in agriculture and health, to Afghanistan along with about 17,000 extra American combat troops also moving into place.

Insurgent attacks have reached a record high eight years after the extremist Taliban were forced out of power in the 2001 US-led invasion.

There are concerns that poverty and under-development are turning Afghans away from the government.

Van Rompuy said Belgium had around 600 soldiers serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, the troubled southern city of Kandahar and in the northern town of Kunduz.

ISAF currently numbers 58,390 soldiers from nearly 40 nations, according to its website.

The troops are fighting against Taliban and other Islamist insurgents -- whom the West has branded an international threat -- and building up Afghan security forces so they can take on a larger share of the battle.

Van Rompuy hailed as "energetic" ongoing Pakistani military operations against Taliban militants but voiced concern about the humanitarian fallout from heavy fighting.

Afghanistan and its allies have long urged Pakistan to clamp down on militants on its soil who infiltrate this country to carry out attacks.

"Stabilisation of Afghanistan is of a strategic importance not only for the region but the rest of the world," Van Rompuy said. "Our commitment and partnership with Afghanistan is a long-standing one."

Karzai in turn praised his European ally for assisting his country "from day one".